The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has launched a promotional video as part of a community awareness campaign – and the early reviews are mixed, particularly depending on which side of the consulting desk you sit and how you feel about diversity and gender issues. Thanks very much to GP Dr Edwin Kruys for [...]

Jennifer Doggett reports from Darwin: A picture of a mouldy lettuce and tired looking carrot selling for $6 in a remote area of Australia was a powerful reminder to delegates at #ruralhealthconf of the challenges involved in rural and remote health. Professor Alan Cass from the Menzies School of Health Research used this example to [...]

After the drama of last year’s ‘slash and burn’ Budget, the Abbott Government’s second Federal Budget was designed to underwhelm the health sector and in this respect at least it delivered. In fact, the lack of organisation at the Department of Health lock-up appeared to bother some groups more than the $2 billion of cuts [...]

A private member’s bill sponsored by Independent Victorian Senator John Madigan seeks to remove Medicare funding for abortions “procured on the basis of gender selection”. Debate on the bill is due to resume this month. Before it does, writes Caroline de Costa in the post below, Senator Madigan – and all of us – should [...]

Thanks to Rebecca Zosel, Health Promotion Advisor at the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (VARTA) for the reflections in the post below on engaging with social media during the 2014 Fertility Week. For more insights and tips about the role of social media in health promotion, check out Colin Cowell’s post at the Power to Persuade [...]

A recent story from the West Australian reports that a Perth clinic that falsely claimed to offer an alternative breast screening service which could detect cancer has been fined $75,000, while the controversial former doctor involved must pay a $25,000 penalty. In the following piece public health Lawyer Caitlin Kameron discusses the implications of the decision [...]

Updated to include statement below from the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) on concerns about discriminatory changes to the way some Aboriginal organisations will be required to incorporate, and from the Close the Gap Steering Committee on cuts to anti-smoking programs. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community leaders have called on Prime [...]

A recent seminar at the University of Sydney examined the legacy of the Australian National Preventive Health Agency (ANPHA) in an event also billed by some as “a wake for preventive health”. In the article below, Stephen Leeder, Emeritus Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Sydney and Editor-in-Chief of The [...]

The debate about the relative benefits and disadvantages of Caesarean Sections versus vaginal births is one of the most complex and contentious in the medical and health sphere. In this fascinating piece, Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery, University of Western Sydney, approaches this issue from a microbiological and epigenetic perspective and discusses the evidence for a causal link [...]

Australian psychiatrist and researcher Professor Louise Newman, director of the Centre for Developmental Psychiatry and Psychology at Monash University, has long led the way on the devastating impact of detention on asylum seekers, particularly children. She is spokeswoman for this open letter, signed by more than 200 prominent doctors, lawyers, academics and refugee advocates, that [...]

About this blog

The Croakey blog is a forum for debate and discussion about health issues and policy. It is moderated by Melissa Sweet, a freelance journalist with a personal and professional bent towards public health perspectives. Regular contributors include members of the Crikey Health and Medical Panel.